PS Audio GCPH comments-opinions

I have been very interested in this unit as others of you are. It has such a great set of features. I'm anxious to hear your reports of how it sounds and compares to other well-known phono stages, such as the EAR.

To further speak of this very promising unit, I did join the PS Audio Discussion group, and posted some question there, in which Mr. Paul Mcgowan himself responded.

Paul states that they are seriously considering also doing a Special, or Limited Edition, which will have a remote control incorporated for the Volume, and I'm sure this will be a real boon to some analog lovers who wish to hardwire the GCPH Unit directly to their Amplifiers.

I myself am also taking a very long hard look at this unit, as it price, and build quality seem reassuring.

What I dislike about many Phono Stages, is very limited ability to adjust gain, or Cartridge Loading. It seems that many have too much gain, or too little, and with the GCPH's rear gain settings, and the front mounted Volume Control, this unit seems to have virtually every Cartridge made covered. (reminds me of the 3 Bears story, PS Audio has got it juuust right!)

While I personally would've wished for a little better ability to custom load any value resistor for Loading, this Unit still seems to have a good selection of settings to keep most users happy, and quite simple to adjust, that one doesn't have to resort to digging into the unit, soldering, or whatnot.

As far as looks, from what can tell from the pics, it looks to me like a very attractive, solid built unit both front, and back.

With a 30 day free In-Home trial from the factory with a money back, and a good 3 year Warrantee, it sounds like a no-brainer to me.

You folks who own one, please feel free to post more about it's sound, it's build quality, cosmetics, etc!
I'd love hearing more about it, and a mini review, or review on the site would be superb! Thanks! Mark

The reason I ask for you "real" folk for a review, and personal opinions about this unit, is that I read the Stereophile review of this unit, which I believe was in
Jan 06's edition.

Robert Deutsche (sp) starts out the review with the Statement that went something like "I'm not too knowledgeable-experienced about reviewing Phono Stages, and don't really have much of a Reference to compare this unit to-with?

So why the heck did they let HIM review the product in the first place? lol

While the review seemed to cover the basic bases, it still left me hanging, and wanting for more about it. Mark

Several years ago, someone at Stereophile (it may have been Deutsche) reviewed
the Benz Glider. This reviewer's reference was cartrdges of a much lesser price
range and so, of course, he loved the Glider, delared it to be Class-A worthy,
etc. There was quite a bruhaha about this among readers, who felt that the
Glider needed to be evaluated against is truer competition, which this reviewer
was not capable of doing. Fair point. Same thing here with the PS Audio.

Likeiwise Art Dudley, whom I like, uses mostly modestly-priced gear and doesn't
do much tweaking. Yet every now and then he'll review something like a pair of
Lamm amps. Guess what? He's amazed by them. Well, duh! And somewhere
along the line he started using Valhalla cables (when he was at Listener, he may
have been the first to tout Nordost). It seems a little odd.

Context and comparative space is very important to the usefulnees of a review.

I was going to wait for one to show up on Audiogon and actually one did show up for $750 but I was too late. That thing flew off the site! You have to be patient and check the site constantly if you want to get one at a nice discount - and that's only if one shows up. It's not really worth my time or effort to try to save a couple hundred or so. I also didn't feel like waiting for a "B" stock unit to show up from PS Audio. I finally broke down and ordered one from AudioAdvisor because they offer a 30-day money back and free shipping! I was going to listen to it for 30 days and then send it back. Guess what? I'm not sending it back! It's that good!